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When I first came across a New York Times story titled “Jeb Bush Takes Tougher Stance Against Same-Sex Marriage”, I was a bit intrigued. Not that a Republican taking such a stance is exactly breaking news, but Jeb often seems to be a little more hesitant to go full-blown evangelical conservative “gays don’t deserve equal rights” than many of his GOP counterparts. Just a few months back, there was even word that Bush’s stance against same-sex marriage was softening and that he could turn out to eventually be the pro-gay Republican candidate. Not anymore. After reading his newest comments, it’s safe to say that Bush has firmly embedded himself in the tangled web of the Evangelical Christian right, hoping to win over their votes while not giving a damn about equal rights. Not only did Bush say that he doesn’t believe gay Americans should have the right to marry, but he basically said that they can’t be loving parents or provide good families for children. “I don’t, but I’m not a lawyer, and clearly this has been accelerated at a warp pace,” Bush said when asked if he thought marriage was a Constitutional right. “To imagine how we’re going to succeed in our country unless we have committed family life, a child-centered family system, is hard to imagine,” he continued. “Irrespective of the Supreme Court ruling, because they’re going to decide whatever they decide, and I don’t know what they’re going to do, we need to be stalwart supporters of traditional marriage.” Oh, but it gets even worse. “If we want to create a right-to-rise society, where people, particularly children born in poverty, if we want to have them have a chance we should be—a core American value,” Bush said, “we have to restore committed, loving family life with a mom and a dad loving their children with their heart and soul.” In other words, according to Jeb, gay couples apparently can’t provide loving, stable homes for children. Apparently he believes they also lack the ability to love “their children with their heart and soul.” And going by these comments, he seems to think that marriage equality will eventually lead to the downfall of the United States since he doesn’t understand how “we’re going to succeed in our country unless we have a committed family life” – which he clearly doesn’t believe gay parents can provide. He also went on to say that “absolutely” businesses should have the right to discriminate against homosexuals based on religious beliefs. I’m really surprised his comments haven’t gotten more coverage nationally; he literally said that he feels marriage should only be between a man and a woman because he doesn’t believe gay couples can provide a “loving” family environment for children. That’s just about as hateful, ignorant and bigoted as you can get. Then, of course, he had to top it all off with the go-to “religious freedom” nonsense when it comes to Republicans trying to legalize discrimination against homosexuals. For a brief moment I had hope that Jeb Bush might have been that candidate to stand up to his party and embrace a more moderate stance on some of these issues. But as these ridiculous comments show, he seems to have fully and proudly embraced the bigoted aspects of his party when it comes to equal rights for the LGBT community.